Psychics, tarot card readers on hand for Body, Mind & Spirit Expo

Monica Obando, of Santa Monica Honey, greets visitors at the Body, Mind & Spirit Expo on Sunday at Sheraton Tampa Airport Westshore hotel. Obando says that bee stings helped cure her of arthritis and that honey can help fight a number of maladies, including allergies. GEOFF FOX/STAFF

BY GEOFF FOXTribune staff

Published: June 22, 2014

Updated: June 22, 2014 at 08:38 PM

TAMPA — Nora Smith of Tampa was 22 when she had her first psychic reading.

“It was impactful and made me realize that there was another realm out there,” Smith said.

Years ago, her friend, Karen Trzcinka, had a palm reading in New Orleans.

“It was in a back room,” Trzcinka said, “behind a beaded curtain.”

On Sunday, Smith and Trzcinka were among dozens of people at the Body, Mind & Spirit Expo at Sheraton Airport Westshore hotel, which started Saturday and ended Sunday afternoon.

For her mother, Smith bought an aromatherapy candle diffuser and arthritis cream with natural ingredients.

Trzcinka had a session with psychic medium Dianne Warren.

“I had gone to her before; it’s interesting,” Trczinka said. “I’ve gone on a few occasions and without telling them what was going on in my world, they told me what was going and what was going to change. You don’t ask them anything, they just start telling you.”

She said that the mediums she spoke with dispensed accurate information.

Smith said that she is interested in “all modalities of healing.”

“At each booth (here) you learn something new about the mind and body,” she said. “They used to do this at the (Florida State Fairgrounds), but this is a much better location.”

Beth Snyder, director of operations at The Florida Institute of Hypnotherapy in Tampa, said the event was an effective way to market the state-licensed school, which opened in 2007 and offers courses in hypnotherapy, clinical hypnotherapy and transpersonal hypnotherapy, which she described as having “more of a spiritual bend.”

The two-day event also featured speakers. At 11 a.m. Saturday, certified medium Deborah Richmond Foulkes delivered a talk titled “Talking to Dead People.” One of the last speakers of the weekend was Ginger Ravencroft, who spoke Sunday afternoon on “The Powers of True Aromatherapy.”

Behind a table full of orange blossom, wildflower, saw palmetto, Tupelo, blueberry and gallberry honey samples was Monica Obando of Quail Hollow. For the past 18 months or so, Obando and her family have run Santa Monica Honey.

A candle meant for increasing energy smelled of mint and citrus, while one labeled “Serenity” contained lavender, rosemary, orange, ylang ylang and lemon and lime.

“All of the soy is grown in America,” Bond said. “I make them all myself with essential oils, which are extracted from the plant, not chemically manufactured. When you inhale the oils, they act in your brain, and that’s aromatherapy.”